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2010 Draft Thread

06-04-2009, 12:31 PM

With the 2010 draft only 10 months away, what better time than now to start looking ahead to what the Colts might need? I think the Colts addressed their needs well in this past draft, and the depth chart looks pretty solid as of now IMO, but there are some positions that could be an issue for the 2010 season. Assuming the CBA gets taken care of (which I think it will, as neither side wants the penalties that kick in for 2010 if they don't take care of it), here's how I see the needs shaking out as of now:

1) S - With a former DPOY, a former Pro Bowler, and a backup who has quite a bit of starting experience and made a few big plays for the team last year, how does this rank as the team's top need? Well, apart from Sanders, the only safety the Colts have under contract beyond 2009 is Jaime Silva. Bethea will be a UFA, and while Bullitt will be a RFA, he'll be a UFA in 2011, and I'm not so sure about his ability to replace Bethea, especially since Bethea will be allowed to play the role he's best at this year (last line of defense/deep enforcer). If Bethea is allowed to walk, which I think he will be, this likely becomes the team's top priority. If he's resigned, this drops completely off the need board.

2) LB - I thought about making this MLB, since Gary Brackett will be a UFA after this season and I doubt the team will retain him, but Wheeler has experience at MLB in college. That said, if Wheeler is slid inside, then the Colts will need a new starting SLB, which means that the team has flexibility and options in addressing this need. I do think that the team will try to find a MLB to replace Brackett rather than slide Wheeler inside, but if a great SLB talent is available to the team, moving Wheeler inside would be an option.

3) OG - This is the wildcard position of the group, depending on injuries and development, this could be the team's top need for 2010 or not a need at all. Given that Lilja is on track to be ready for camp as of now, Pollak should get his first camp, and all 3 guards who were drafted last year got valuable PT, I'm leaning toward the latter, but if everything goes wrong, and it could, this could become a huge need.

4) CB - With Marlin Jackson hitting free agency and the CBs behind him on the depth chart not showing much progress to this point, this could be a very big need for the team in 2010. Then again, if some of the young CBs on the team develop, this could become a secondary need.

That's all I can think of for now. That said, with the way this upcoming class looks, if the team selected a DL, I wouldn't be too upset. Also, Jermaine Gresham IMO would be an upgrade over and 3rd WR/2nd TE the team currently has. Thoughts?

The problem arises when people use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post: for support instead of illumination.

If luck is where preparation meets opportunity, then clutch is where failure meets luck.

<Add1ct> setting myself on fire can't be that hard
<Add1ct> but tackling a mosquito might prove a challenge

OT. Ryan Diem is a good candidate for cap casualty, though that of course depends on what happens with the new CBA. Ugoh needs to step up or be replaced at LT, and at worst a busted tackle can play guard. Charlie Johnson is a FA after this year too.

Comment

OT. Ryan Diem is a good candidate for cap casualty, though that of course depends on what happens with the new CBA. Ugoh needs to step up or be replaced at LT, and at worst a busted tackle can play guard. Charlie Johnson is a FA after this year too.

What has Ugoh done that he needs to "step up or be replaced"? is it the 4.5 sacks allowed in 23 starts? Or maybe his 1 career holding penalty? The only knock I have on Ugoh so far is he's missed 9 of a possible 32 starts, but if he can stay healthy, he's as much of an anchor as Glenn was. I agree with you on Diem, and RT is certainly a concern worthy of mention (don't know why I didn't think of it when making the thread), especially since Charlie Johnson (who played RT well in 2006) is an impending FA, but IMO LT is locked down for some time provided Ugoh can get to the point where he can stay on the field.

The problem arises when people use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post: for support instead of illumination.

If luck is where preparation meets opportunity, then clutch is where failure meets luck.

<Add1ct> setting myself on fire can't be that hard
<Add1ct> but tackling a mosquito might prove a challenge

Comment

Honestly I'm looking forward to the 2009 Colts season too much to think about the 2010 Draft.

But big picture, there's only one need: middle linebacker.

Hopefully the guy is in this Draft class and the Colts have a shot at him. The Colts need to get bigger, stronger, faster, and younger at the position. With the right guy, the defense would go to another level.

Brandon Spikes is the leading candidate imo, although I am not 100 percent sure if he's the perfect guy for the Colts. He may be the best one though, and the good thing is that middle linebackers tend to fall in the 1st round. The Colts need a guy to fall to the 32nd overall pick (or maybe even later than that).

Ideally, in my dreams, next offseason the Colts either trade for Nick Barnett from the Green Bay Packers or sign Barrett Ruud of the Tampa Bay Bucs. That would be PERFECT. But either move requires money. A draft pick, even the 1st rounder, is much cheaper.

Pugnacity, testosterone, truculence, and belligerence.

Comment

The real cap casualty next offseason should be Raheem Brock. Remember how I said Harrison had to go? Brock's the next guy. The Colts need to draft a LDE. Brandon Graham of Michigan would be perfect, but he'll likely be a 1st-to-mid 2nd round pick like Woodley (who I loved) and the Colts are looking for a rotational guy because they already have stud Robert Mathis.

Tony Ugoh is the franchise left tackle. I don't get why he gets such a bad rap from Colts fans, or has idiots in the media openly questioning his toughness and character and crap like that. Other than a series of plays in one 2-minute drill, Ugoh has handled the almighty Mario Williams thus far in his career. He's so similar to Tarik Glenn, except not 50 lbs overweight and with hair on his head. Ugoh will get more $ than Joe Staley's 6 years/$42M extension.

Ryan Diem can be replaced, if they have the right guy though. Don't want to end up with a crappy OL like the Patriots. Although I sure as heck wouldn't spend a 1st round pick on a RT.

Comment

Honestly I'm looking forward to the 2009 Colts season too much to think about the 2010 Draft.

But big picture, there's only one need: middle linebacker.

Hopefully the guy is in this Draft class and the Colts have a shot at him. The Colts need to get bigger, stronger, faster, and younger at the position. With the right guy, the defense would go to another level.

Brandon Spikes is the leading candidate imo, although I am not 100 percent sure if he's the perfect guy for the Colts. He may be the best one though, and the good thing is that middle linebackers tend to fall in the 1st round. The Colts need a guy to fall to the 32nd overall pick (or maybe even later than that).

Ideally, in my dreams, next offseason the Colts either trade for Nick Barnett from the Green Bay Packers or sign Barrett Ruud of the Tampa Bay Bucs. That would be PERFECT. But either move requires money. A draft pick, even the 1st rounder, is much cheaper.

I'd rather the team NOT spend a 1st rounder on a MLB, we all saw what happened the last time they did that. With how deep next year's class is at DL, I'm hoping the Colts will take one of them (I know the DL is pretty loaded as is, but the way things look, there could be a guy who would be a Top 15 talent most years sitting there for the Colts at the end of Round 1) or, if he somehow falls, Jermaine Gresham at this point. Obviously this is EXTREMELY early.

The problem arises when people use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post: for support instead of illumination.

If luck is where preparation meets opportunity, then clutch is where failure meets luck.

<Add1ct> setting myself on fire can't be that hard
<Add1ct> but tackling a mosquito might prove a challenge

Comment

I'd rather the team NOT spend a 1st rounder on a MLB, we all saw what happened the last time they did that.

What, do you think if the Colts draft a MLB in 2010, that we will change our defensive system in 2012? In 2001, Morris was one of the Colts best defenders, then in 2002 they switched to the Tampa 2. Morris simply wasn't a Tampa 2 MLB. Rob Morris was a very good player. He just didn't fit our system. If the Colts had signed, for example, Bart Scott in Free Agency then he would have been crap in Indy, because he doesn't fit the system.

Originally posted by George Carlin

In Football the object is for the Field General to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the Defence by hitting his Receivers with deadly accuracy, in spite of the Blitz, even if he has to use the Shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack which punches holes in the forward wall of the enemyís Defensive Line.

In Baseball the object is to go home and be safe.

Comment

Dam, I am not as down on Ugoh as some, but when I watch him he doesn't finish blocks the way I'd like him to. I know he is not a road grader type, and he doesn't need to be. But I tend to take sacks allowed stats with a grain of salt since Manning has such a quick release, and for many of those starts Manning was throwing even sooner than usual because of the glaring weak points on the rest of the line. He didn't show the improvement from rookie to 2nd year player that I would've expected, and while being thrown in early because of Glenn's retirement has a lot to do with that, I am expecting him to show the rest of that growth and some increased aggression this year. If he doesn't, I think he needs to move, maybe to RT or G, or at the very least the Colts should look for his replacement in the draft and be ready to move Ugoh out the year after.

Comment

Cornerback: Marlin Jackson will be a Free Agent at the end of the year, and is coming of an ACL tear this season. If he doesnít recover his playing ability then he needs to be replaced. If he does play well then he will need to be resigned and will probably be looking for as good, if not better, than Kelvin Haydenís contract this offseason. If it is a capped year, or even if it is uncapped and Jim Irsay doesnít have the necessary capital, then he mightnít be able to be resigned and this becomes the principle need of this offseason. Bill Polian doesnít normally resign Cornerbacks, Hayden being the exception, and so the biggest need going into the 2010 Draft will be Cornerback. This is added to by the fact that Tim Jennings is also a Free Agent. Last year both Tim Jennings and Keiwan Ratliff (now a Steeler) had significant playing time. Jerraud Powers, in my opinion, will be a very good Nickelback but is too small to play on the outside. Dante Hughes will play in Ratliffís stead this year but if Jennings isnít resigned, which I hope he isnít, better Cornerback depth will be needed. This will probably need to be as early as a 4th Round selection, possibly even a 3rd.

Linebacker: Gary Brackett is coming off an injury that has kept him out of some workouts, will be 30 by the start of next season, and is a Free Agent. Next year has a number of top quality Linebackers and so Brackettís replacement could be sought in the 1st or 2nd Round. Both Keiaho and Seward are also Free Agents next year and so general Linebacker depth could be sought in the latter rounds.

Safety: Antoine Bethea was a 6th Round pick in 2006. He was paid 2006 6th Rounder money. He is now a starting Free Safety in the NFL and a Free Agent in the Offseason. It will cost a helluva lot more to resign him, too much if there is a capped year next year. If Bethea isnít resigned then Melvin Bullitt definitely needs to be. I feel that one of them will be resigned, but it could be a struggle to resign both of them. That means that at least one Safety is going to need to be drafted next year. The good thing is that there is a lot of Defensive Talent, and a lot of top rated Safety talent. Because of this, a lot of good Safeties may drop out of the 1st day.

Offensive Line: There could be multiple directions that this could go in. If the team donít feel that Ugoh is the answer at Left Tackle then a 1st or 2nd Round LT could be the answer, moving Ugoh to RT and cutting Diem. The resulting savings in money could then be used to resign Charlie Johnson, thus avoiding a problem there. If they donít do this then we still need to look at the resigning of Charlie Johnson and the depth at Offensive Tackle in general, with neither Toudouze nor Hilliard impressing, and both Charlie Johnson and Dan Federkiel (two Guards who can play Tackle) are both Free Agents. Even if one, or both, is resigned, better depth at Offensive Tackle is needed.

There are other needs, but the Colts only have 6th picks in the draft next year, and the other positions, like D-Line, can be delayed to other years.

Originally posted by George Carlin

In Football the object is for the Field General to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the Defence by hitting his Receivers with deadly accuracy, in spite of the Blitz, even if he has to use the Shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack which punches holes in the forward wall of the enemyís Defensive Line.

In Baseball the object is to go home and be safe.

Comment

What, do you think if the Colts draft a MLB in 2010, that we will change our defensive system in 2012? In 2001, Morris was one of the Colts best defenders, then in 2002 they switched to the Tampa 2. Morris simply wasn't a Tampa 2 MLB. Rob Morris was a very good player. He just didn't fit our system. If the Colts had signed, for example, Bart Scott in Free Agency then he would have been crap in Indy, because he doesn't fit the system.

I would hope that the Colts would never take a scheme specific MLB in round 1 again. If taking a MLB in round 1, he should be highly adaptable and athletic, like Ray Lewis. I understand that Morris was a 3-4 thumper, but investing that high of a selection into a MLB, that player should be able to play regardless of scheme.

Dam, I am not as down on Ugoh as some, but when I watch him he doesn't finish blocks the way I'd like him to. I know he is not a road grader type, and he doesn't need to be. But I tend to take sacks allowed stats with a grain of salt since Manning has such a quick release, and for many of those starts Manning was throwing even sooner than usual because of the glaring weak points on the rest of the line. He didn't show the improvement from rookie to 2nd year player that I would've expected, and while being thrown in early because of Glenn's retirement has a lot to do with that, I am expecting him to show the rest of that growth and some increased aggression this year. If he doesn't, I think he needs to move, maybe to RT or G, or at the very least the Colts should look for his replacement in the draft and be ready to move Ugoh out the year after.

Manning hasn't faced much blindside pressure with Ugoh blocking for him, and he's been really good in the run game, always taking his own man and at times getting a pancake and taking another man. IMO it's no coincidence that the Colts ran their best by far when they ran near and/or behind the blocks of Ugoh, and I think he's done well in terms of pass pro. For example, in the game Ugoh played against the Texans, the only time he had any problems with Mario Williams was during that 2 minute drive, and he still didn't get a sack in that game. He was handling Jared Allen pretty well before he got injured too, then Charlie Johnson got thrown around like a ragdoll by Allen. I think he's actually already become fairly underrated and underappreciated among the fanbase due to the fact that he has missed some starts. When he's been on the field, he's been a really good performer.

The problem arises when people use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post: for support instead of illumination.

If luck is where preparation meets opportunity, then clutch is where failure meets luck.

<Add1ct> setting myself on fire can't be that hard
<Add1ct> but tackling a mosquito might prove a challenge

Comment

I would like it to be a top rated tackle or a good cornerback (given that Marlin Jackson is entering free agency).

Plus, it will also be Brackett's free agency year, I am not sure how Adam Seward is going to pan out. Does anyone know of good LBs that can play MLB with good coverage skills in our Tampa 2 system in the 2010 draft? How good are Sean Lee of Penn State & Reggie Carter of UCLA? Will they fit our system if drafted in round 2 or later? I also found out that Joe Pawelek of Baylor has a lot of interceptions as a sophomore ILB, I am keeping my eye on him as well.

I like Myron Lewis of Vanderbilt, who played alongside D.J.Moore and gave Vanderbilt one of the best secondaries in the SEC (started every game at CB in 2007, an honors student with perfect attendance), he is 6'2", 205, 4.52 40, I'd love to have this guy in round 1.

What do you guys think of Anderson Russell of Ohio State as Bethea's replacement? I am not a big fan of Bethea's tackling prowess or the angles he takes but I love his ball hawking skills. Which would be more important for the Colts FS - good ball hawking with average tackling or average ball hawking with good tackling? Is Lendy Holmes of Oklahoma going to declare for the draft in 2010?

Comment

I don't think Bethea is going anywhere, personally. With the improved DL, the LBs won't need as much help from the safeties. I think Bethea will have a pretty good year this year. Getting better up front is seriously going to drastically improve every facet of the defense.

Comment

One thing to keep in mind is that, it seems like there's more of a tendency for better offensive value to be there late in the 1st than defensive value.

A tendency that we've obviously seen the Colts, in their efforts to acquire the best player available, take advantage. Not just them of course, let's just take the Steelers for example - they drafted Heath Miller 30th overall and the next year traded up from #32 to get Santonio Holmes at 26.

If there is any defensive value at that point, chances are it's at linebacker and the Colts don't seem to value linebacker as 1st round value. Ie. the (perceived) minimal difference in production between a 2nd-4th round pick and a 1st round pick isn't worth spending that 1st round pick in the position. Although we'll see if that doesn't change any in the wake of Caldwell taking over the team, not being afraid to help change things for the better. Especially as his defensive coordinator is a former LBs coach and could, one way or another, push for his right hand man to run his defense.

The two guys the Colts have picked in that range slipped because of a deficiency in their measurables: Marlin Jackson was pegged as a zone corner because of his 40-time, Bob Sanders' height (or rather lack thereof) is what hurt his draft stock.

But back to value late in the 1st, again, there seems to be a tendency that more often than not, it's on the offensive side of the ball. And that could be the case again this year perhaps. However I think the Colts are in pretty good position overall, offensively. Other than RT if Diem is cut, which doesn't seem likely right now, plus also TE2 and WR5. Not sure I see a 1st round pick being spent at those positions. But let's keep our minds open.

Comment

Many GMs might go out and get an Offensive Player because I feel the Offensive Players could come off the board quite quickly. There are maybe only 15 real 1st Rnd talents on the Offensive side of the ball, while there are maybe 25 Defensive Players with 1st Rnd talents. This really is the year of the D with top players like Gerald McCoy, Mount Cody, Kindle, Mays and Berry all in this draft. McCoy is better than any UT in last years draft, Cody better than any NT, Kindle is a better outside rusher, and Mays and Berry are significantly better Safeties. In comparison there isn't a lot between Stafford and Sam Bradford, or Spiller and Moreno, and last years OT class was significantly better than this years class.

Because of this there could either be top quality Offenisve Players on the board, come the Colts pick, (as GMs avoid them to take the top Defensive Players), or really potentially elite Defensive Players (as GMs take QBs, WRs etc just to make sure they get a good one).

The Colts are solid in both Starters and Depth at QB, RB, WR and TE. The four Offensive Skill positions we have a solid 1st Rnd starter, and have invested heavily in backups as well. The only area on the Offense that I beleive could see improvment is the Offensive Line, and this is a realtively weak Offensive Tackle class. Players like William Beatty and Phil Loadholt are better prospects than some Tackles who will go in the 1st this year.

Originally posted by George Carlin

In Football the object is for the Field General to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the Defence by hitting his Receivers with deadly accuracy, in spite of the Blitz, even if he has to use the Shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack which punches holes in the forward wall of the enemyís Defensive Line.

In Baseball the object is to go home and be safe.

Comment

The Colts need to give Peyton Manning a defense and a running game. Asking him to carry this team all season plus the playoffs is too much. The NFL is too much of a team sport for one man to win in the postseason, especially when playing in the AFC. Peyton and the Colts would have already been to multiple Super Bowls if they were in the NFC since 1998, but that doesn't help the current situation any.

Even though the '08 Hit Squad defense set the (modern era) record for fewest passing touchdowns allowed, the defense wasn't that good. We remember the struggles. Divisional opponents had too much success, even though in their own right, they have potent offenses.

Now granted there have already been three big improvements: (1) Coaching; (2) Defensive tackles; and (3) Cornerbacks. And of course there some (high) quality players already in place.

Injuries to the offensive line are somewhat cyclical, and after the last two injury-plagued seasons, hopefully now the Colts experience an upswing and get lucky again. A consistent and healthy offensive line, even without the greatest players, will bode very well for success. The addition of Donald Brown will definitely help the running game as well.

I really like this 2009 team, very enthused about their chances. Including contending for a championship.

But I wouldn't be afraid to draft a quality player at any position, including another defensive tackle (Arthur Jones of Syracuse is a guy I find rather interesting).